Maintenance and Modifications
Maintenance Tech Salaries Growing but Lag Pilots'
Technicians need to be better informed about their worth—and advocate for themselves
NBAA Maintenance Conference maintenance competition
Mechanics test their skills at the NBAA Maintenance Conference maintenance competition, hosted by Barrington Irving Technical Training School. As they work their way into business aviation careers, technicians need to learn to advocate for themselves to ensure they receive fair pay. (Photo: Matt Thurber/AIN)

At the NBAA Maintenance Conference this week in Portland, Oregon, Christopher Broyhill, a business aviation compensation expert and founder of The AirComp Calculator, highlighted a key difference between pilot and aviation maintenance technician (AMT) pay rates. While business aviation pilot pay has climbed dramatically in the past decade, AMT rates have also grown—but at a much slower pace.

“I can count on one hand” where AMTs are paid properly, said Broyhill, based on data from the more than 300 studies he has conducted. “By and large, they are being underpaid.”